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Florida Evans
Florida Evans-Dixon, played by Esther Rolle, (born August 4, 1935) is the mother of J.J., Thelma, and Michael Evans, and the wife of James Evans, then Carl Dixon after the untimely death of James, who died in a automobile accident while preparing his family for a move to Mississippi, on Good Times; she appears in 109 of the 133 episodes in Seasons 1 through 4 and then returns in Season 6 after the presumed passing of Carl, whom she wed at the end of Season 4, in the episode "Love Has a Spot on His Lung: Part 2", the season finale. About Florida Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, she also grew up in Chicago with her poor family "The Wilsons" she never had the chance to finish off high school because she wanted to help support her parents and starting working minimum wage jobs. As a young adult she met her childhood sweetheart and the love of her life, James Evans and eventually married him. They used to lived in South-side of Chicago in a cold water flat where they had their two oldest children James Evans Jr. "JJ" & Thelma Evans, When Florida was pregnant with their third child Michael Evans, they move to North-side of Chicago in the Housing Projects. As a stay-at-home mother, she's the super-glue that keeps the Evans family together. With a stern but loving disposition, Florida does her best to emotionally support her often out-of-work husband and be a good parent and role model for their three children. Between the cooking, the cleaning, and the disciplining, Florida often squeezes in a part-time job to help stretch the family dollar. But family and financial challenges aside, Florida is the quintessential hostess and possessed of a generous spirit. She is known to throw a good party and doesn't hesitate to offer whatever she has to those in need. Not only is Florida the superwoman of the Evans household, but for many, including her good friend and neighbor, Willona, she's the superhero of her housing project on the South Side of Chicago. Her husband James fought to get his family out of the ghetto and he almost succeeded, when he left Chicago to find a better job in Mississippi and the family was scheduled to follow him shortly after, but he was killed in a car accident while in Mississippi, that left the now-widowed Florida to support herself and her three children. Also giving her much needed moral support was her best friend, Willona Woods. In 1976 or 1977 Florida had met Carl Dixon, the two fell in love with each other, during that time Carl had been diagnosis with lung cancer, he broke up with Florida thinking it would only hurt her to know she's going to lose another person she loves again, but after a while he realize he couldn't bear not being with her and end up marrying her. Carl and Florida moved to Arizona where the dry air would be better for his condition and improve his chances of longevity. After a year has passed, Florida returns back home to Chicago to her children. It is currently unknown if Carl passed away or decided to stay in Arizona since he hadn't been seen in awhile, but he has been mentioned by Florida a couple of times. In 1978–1979 Florida finally moved to an new apartment with Thelma and her new husband Keith, after Thelma revealed that she was pregnant, Florida was so happy that she is going to be a grandmother. Thelma said she didn't know how to raise a baby and would feel more comfortable if her mother was there. Also, Florida's best friend Willona wound up moving to the same luxury apartment around the same time as Florida, making the two best friends once again neighbors. Trivia *Esther Rolle's departure from the show during the 1977–1978 season, the reason why she left was because she was unhappy that the success of Jimmie Walker's character J.J. Evans took the show in what she thought was a frivolous direction. *Rolle quit when her contract concluded. Although the series continued without her for the fifth season, she returned to reprise her role as Florida in the show's final season, with the explanation that the shop owner whom she wed at the end of Season 4, Carl Dixon (played by Moses Gunn), whom she had moved to Arizona with upon their honeymoon, had succumbed to his struggle with cancer, with her then deciding to return to Chicago. *Rolle's most memorable is in the episode "The Big Move: Part 2" at the start of Season 4, when she scream out "DAMN DAMN DAMN!" when her character Florida finally accepts the fact that James, who had died in an auto accident while preparing to move the family to Mississippi, is really gone. Category:Characters Category:Main characters